More than a Life of Were
by proxiima
Summary: Is it fate that this horrible thing has happened to him? Would he have tried to change, or possibly have died to reverse what has happened given the chance? Or is the girl who he could never imagine his life without now, worth all the pain and suffering?
1. Chapter 1

While walking into the hotel dining room I saw Jacob eating breakfast at one of the booths. "Hey Jake," I said while swiping a piece of bacon off his plate.

"Mornin'. Sleep well?"

He smirked at me knowing that I was slightly hung over from self-medicating myself for the trip to Paris. I hated flying, but I had found a good enough way to cope.

We had arrived in Paris the night before from Chicago. After graduation we decided to do a tour of Europe together before we were forced to go our separate ways. Jake was going to Stanford to get a Masters in Business, and I was headed to Dartmouth to start Medical school. Being on different coasts meant we would almost never get to see each other anymore.

Jacob and I had been best friends since he moved to Chicago in the third grade. He was the silent, strange new kid, and I was creepy kid collecting bugs on the playground. He thought the beetles I was playing with were cool, and ever since then we had been inseparable. So we figured we would spend what little time we had left together going partying, I mean sightseeing, around Europe. And Paris was our first stop.

"So what's the plan for day one?" I asked him while stealing another strip of bacon.

"Well after you get your own damn food, we hop on a tour bus that'll take us to all the hotspots. But after that we'll have to find something fun to do for ourselves."

Knowing Jake, I knew we wouldn't have a hard time finding some entertainment for tonight.

* * *

><p>As always, Jake never fails to prove me right.<p>

It was the middle of the afternoon and our tour bus had stopped at a cafe for lunch. All Jacob had done was get up to use the restroom, but when I saw him walking back to our table, he wasn't alone. Talking to him was a beautiful woman who was almost as tall as he was.

Now, we were by no means 'players', but after we grew out of our strangeness and creepiness, we had no problems getting the girls. With Jake's muscle man look, and my undeniable charms, we could get any woman we wanted. But we only used our powers for good, we never took advantage of any girl, or at least I didn't.

When they reached the table Jake introduced the woman by his side. "Edward this is Leah. Leah this is Edward, my friend I was telling you about." Jake winked at me while Leah reached out to shake my hand.

"Hi it's nice to meet you."

"You're American," I said. For some reason it shocked me.

"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious Eddie." Jake knew I hated being called that, and only used it when he was annoyed with me. "Have a seat," being the gentleman he was Jake pulled out a chair for her. Leah thanked him and sat down.

"So, where are you from," I asked her.

"I'm from Texas, but I've been in France so long that I don't really remember what it was like back in the States."

"What made you decide to live in Paris?" Jake asked.

"Work."

"Really? What kind of work do you do?

"Oh, I guess you could call me a recruiter of sorts." She smiled at me and a strange sense of unease went through me, but I smiled back at her.

We chatted with her some more, well Jake chatted mostly, until it was time to get back on the tour bus. As we were saying our goodbyes, Leah invited us to a club later that night and gave Jacob her phone number.

"Well that worked out nicely, don't ya think?" Jake asked me back on the bus.

"Yeah, she was pretty cool. Tonight should be fun," I answered him automatically. I didn't want to ruin his mood.

I spent the rest of the day with that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was just something about Leah that didn't feel right.


	2. Chapter 2

After the bus dropped us off back at the hotel we got dressed and went out to grab dinner before heading to the club that Leah invited us to.

With the help of some locals we found the club. The entrance was in a long alley way and the sign above the doors said "Pleine Lune." We walked up to the bouncer and gave him our names, which Leah said she would put on the list.

We walked in and I took a look around. It wasn't a dingy place, but the haze of smoke filling the air and the long drapes hanging off the walls gave the large room a sort of eerie feeling.

Jake bumped me in the shoulder. "Hey, I'm gonna go look for Leah. I'll meet you at the bar." He slipped into the crowd people and I went to the bar.

Sitting down on one of the stools, I got the bartender's attention and ordered a beer. The music beat loudly as the crowd of dancing people grew larger. I scanned the room looking for Jake but couldn't find him anywhere. My eyes landed on a group of six really big guys. They were huddled together in a dark corner talking; it looked like they were passing something around to each other. I looked away not really wanting to know what was going on.

I sat at the bar for a few more minutes having given up hope that I would see Jacob again anytime soon. That's when I heard it. Someone in the middle of the dance floor let out a shriek that could be heard over the music. Another scream followed and another, and before I even knew what was happening everybody had been become hysterical. People were running for the doors, pushing other bodies out of the way and knocking people down.

I jumped up from the stool and ran into the screaming crowd looking for Jacob. Pushing and pulling people out of my way, I frantically searched for my friend. I made my way into a space free of people and looked around. I saw him there, sitting by himself on a couch with his head hanging to the side, his eyes closed and mouth open. I ran up to Jake, but when I saw his face my eyes widened. There were long, bloody gashes running down his head from his right ear to his jaw. A part of his neck was also ripped open, blood gushing down his chest.

Horrified by what I was seeing, I took a step away from Jacob's body only to be knocked down by someone running for the exit. I got up and looked around towards the front of the club.

And then I saw them.

Huge beasts. Bigger than any lion or tiger you've ever seen. I saw about six of them scattered around the club, most of them on all four legs, but some stood on just their hind legs reaching well over 8 feet tall. They all had the same bristly fur with differing shades of black and grey, claws and fangs four inches long, and bright red eyes that could burn right through you.

I stood frozen as I watched the beasts attack the club goers, jumping on and tearing people apart limb from limb. Dragging the screaming bodies into the dark recesses of the club. It was the most grotesque thing I had ever seen in my life.

As I looked around at the massacre before me, my eyes stopped on a beast standing not 15 feet in front of me. It's devilish red eyes trained on my every movement. It snarled at me, bearing its blood stained fangs, and lunged towards me. I barely dashed out of the way in time to miss its razor sharp claws swiping past my face.

I ran for a stairway leading down under the club. At the bottom of the stairs was a cellar that smelled of rotting meat. I didn't give myself a chance to look for the source of the smell before I heard the beast coming down the stairs for me. I frantically looked for an escape route when I found a small hole in the wall almost not big enough for me to fit through. I squeezed through the hole and found myself in the underground sewers of Paris.

I heard the beast walking down into the cellar and looked back through the hole in the wall to see it sniffing around the small room. It stopped sniffing for just a moment and then snapped its head in my direction looking me dead in the eye. It was a spilt second before the beast rushed at the wall breaking it down and knocking me flat on my back. It landed on top of me crushing me with its weight, and sunk its horrible teeth straight into my shoulder. I screamed as I felt the tendons rip apart and my shoulder blade snap.

I pounded on the beast with my fist trying to get it to release its steel grip on my shoulder. After my futile attempts I started to reach out with my good arm feeling for anything to give me an advantage against the monster. My fingers finally skimmed across a broken pipe that had come from the wall. I grabbed it and drove the jagged end in the beast's side. Its jaws released my shoulder and opened wide, howling in pain.

Seeing my chance for escape, I rolled out from underneath the beast and took off running as fast as my legs would carry me. As I ran through the sewers I found a smaller pipe just large enough for me to fit in. Before I could debate on whether or not the pipe might lead somewhere, I heard the beast coming down the sewer searching for me. I ran straight for the pipe and pushed myself into it. Just as I dragged my feet into the pipe, the beast appeared at the entrance trying to claw its way into the pipe. I was fortunate enough to be able to escape through the pipe.

After what seemed like hours, but was more likely about twenty minutes, I saw the dim light at the end of the pipe. I crawled and crawled until I reached the end, falling on my face on to the wet earth below. With the last bit of strength I could muster, I lifted my head up to find myself in the middle of a dark damp forest.

And then the world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

When had the world turned upside down? When did monsters, the size of small cars with horrible fangs and claws, start existing? If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed that they were real. If I hadn't seen my best friend with his mouth hanging open and his neck bloodied and ripped a part, I would have said that such things could never exist.

But I would have been wrong. Because as much as I would give anything to forget what had happened, I know that it did happen and it felt like a horrible nightmare.

I don't know how long I was passed out in the forest until I started to regain some consciousness at the feeling of floating through the trees. Before I passed out again I caught the slightest glimpse of pale skin and golden blonde hair above me. It could only be an angel.

* * *

><p>The first thing I noticed when I finally woke up was that I was no longer in the forest. I was lying in a big soft bed in the middle what appeared to be a fancy hotel room. I was wearing clean clothes, that didn't belong to me, and my shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged up. I wasn't in as much pain as when the beast first dug its fangs into me, but I was still sore.<p>

With what little strength I had I pulled myself up leaning against the headboard. I had no idea how I got here, or where here was, or what I was supposed to do next. At that moment, the door to the bedroom slowly opened and a young blonde man walked in.

"Hello, my name is Carlisle Cullen," the man said.

He had bright honey colored eyes and looked to be in his early twenties, but held himself in a way that gave me the impression he was much older than he looked.

"Um, I'm Edward. Where am I?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Edward. You're still in Paris. But don't worry you're safe here." He must have seen the look of panic flash across my face. I didn't like the thought of being anywhere near the thing that attacked me.

"What happened? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Almost three days. I found you deep in the forest and brought you back here."

"What were you doing in the forest? And why didn't you bring me to a hospital? My arm was all but falling off," I asked.

"Well I'm a doctor you see, so I brought you back here and took care of your shoulder myself. And as to why I was in the forest, well that's a much longer story that I feel should begin with what I think happened to you."

"I can tell you what happened to me. This freakishly giant dog thing attacked me. It killed my best friend and there were more of them killing other people. I barely got out alive. It was like being in a nightmare, only I couldn't wake up because the nightmare was real."

"Yes, I completely understand how you must have felt," I didn't think he really could understand, but he continued talking.

"But I think there's more to it than just that. I believe what you saw attacking those other people, and what you were attacked by, were werewolves."

I was too shocked to say anything. I just stared at him until I was able to comprehend what he had just said.

"Werewolves don't exist. They can't exist. They're just fairytales, folklore. Myths."

As much as I didn't want to believe it, I was starting to see that he might be right. It might be an improbable explanation, but it seemed the most likely at the moment for some reason.

"There's something else you should know," he said as if there was more bad news. "I'm a vampire."

I almost laughed in his face. I must have still been unconscious and my brain was coming up with all this crazy stuff. In fact, I must still be on the airplane on my way to Paris drunk as a skunk. Because this Carlisle person, who claimed to be a vampire and that a werewolf attacked me, was starting to make me think that the world was a more dangerous place than I ever thought possible.

"You're kidding right? And next you're going to tell me that Big Foot really exists and that King Kong is Godzilla's cousin. Right sure, if you're really a vampire than why am I still alive? Why save me? Why not drain me of all my blood?"

Carlisle sighed. "Because I value human life. Because I do not want to be a monster and give into the animalistic ways of my species. And you're alive because I've spent more than three hundred years training myself to resist human blood."

I thought about what he said. I thought about all the deep dark secrets of this world that I knew nothing about.

I had a hard time believing that he was a civil, human loving vampire. It didn't make any sense when all the horror stories you're told as a kid are about evil monsters that lurk in dark alleys waiting for their prey. Or the stories about the devastatingly good-looking "Brad Pitt" vampires that seduce young women to have sex with them and then drain every last drop of blood from their bodies.

"So why were you in the forest? How did you find me?"

"I was out hunting."

"Hunting?" I interrupted him. "I thought you said you value human life? Doesn't that mean you don't kill humans?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant. But I still have to survive by drinking some kind of blood. I learned long ago, shortly after my transformation, that I could sustain myself as easily on animal blood as I could on human blood. It's not as appealing but it gets the job done and allows me and my family to live a somewhat "normal" life."

This was all getting too weird. Pro-human vampire. Animal blood. Family. Wait a minute. Family?

"What do you mean family? You turned you're entire family into vampires? What kind of person…"

"No," he stopped me from finishing my incredulous thought. "I did not turn my family into vampires. I would absolutely never turn anyone into this who had a choice in the matter. My life was taken from me, I would never dream of doing the same to anyone else. My family, for lack of a better word, is made up of people who were already vampires when I met them or were dying when I found them. I thought the best thing to do for them was to save them, to give them a second chance at life. We have lived together for many years and have formed a family bond. And that brings us back to how I found you in the forest. I am in Paris with my wife, Esme, while she is buying some things for our home back in the States. I was out hunting and caught the scent of human blood. I followed the scent until it brought me to you near that drain. But there was another scent on you, one that I hadn't smelled in a very long time. When I realized that a werewolf must have attacked you, I knew that I could not bring you to a hospital."

"So what's going to happen to me?"

I didn't know what I was supposed to do next. I was still digesting all the information this stranger had just given me. I was still trying to reconcile with what had happened. I had witnessed, and was a victim of, a horrible massacre committed by supernatural monsters. I had seen my best friend's throat ripped open by those monsters. Only to wake up and find out that there are more supernatural beings out there, ones with what I could only describe as "good" intentions towards humans. And I was learning that some myths weren't actually myths at all, which led to a horrible thought that hadn't occurred to me just yet.

"Am…am I going to…change into one of…them?" I asked Carlisle because he seemed to have the answers to everything. I dreaded his reply.

Carlisle sighed, he couldn't even look me in the eye when he said, "Yes, you will. I am so sorry. A werewolf's bite can only infect a human when there is a full moon. There was a full moon shining in the sky the night you were bitten."


	4. Chapter 4

In that moment I would have given anything to go back and change everything.

I would have trusted my gut feeling and never have accepted Leah's invitation. I would have never allowed Jacob to walk away from me in the club. I would have never even gotten on the plane to Paris in the first place had I had the foresight to know what was going to happen.

I felt like I would have rather bled out and died in that forest, or have that monster just finish the job, than to have to spend the rest of my life living with this…disease.

It was a curse. One that there was no turning back from.

I guess I had been silent for quite a while because Carlisle cleared his throat to get my attention.

"I really am sorry, Edward. I'm sorry that there is nothing I can do to help you. Except…" he trailed off.

"Except what? Except what, Carlisle? Is there something you can do to help me? Anything please. Anything," I begged him.

"Edward…I don't mean it like that. There really is nothing I can think of that will cure you. I only meant that I could help you by offering to come live with us. My family and I, that is. We could help you to come to terms with what you will become…what you are. We might not be the same kind of monster, but we were all human once."

I thought about what he said. While it was true that I was facing a difficult future, I still had a life. I still had medical school to attend. I still had hopes and dreams.

"I can't live with you. I have a life. I have plans to go to medical school and…and…"

It wasn't until that moment that I realized that my plans might have been ruined. I couldn't lie to myself. This horrible twist of fate has irrevocably changed my life.

"I can't say enough how sorry I am, but Edward I think it's in your best interest not to go back to your family or your old life. I think it's too dangerous to allow you to live in society while you become accustomed to this new way of life."

"I don't have any family. My parents died in a car accident five years ago. Jacob was my only family. And now he's gone to." I felt defeated in so many ways it was hard to decide whom I felt more sorry for, my parents, Jacob, or myself.

I felt Carlisle's eyes on me. I could feel his sympathy for me, even though I wanted none.

"Like I said Edward, you are more than welcome to come live with us. I think it would be the best thing for you to do right now. And then we can discuss what lies ahead for you and how to best manage your…condition."

I couldn't think of anything else to do with myself, short of jumping off a bridge. But I'm not suicidal. For one reason or another the thought of killing myself didn't appeal to me. I felt like it would be a waste. Like I'm supposed to be alive for some other purpose.

I looked at Carlisle seeing a man who gives the impression of wisdom beyond his years and felt like I had rarely seen such kindness from any human before. "I don't think I have any other choice. Thank you so much Carlisle. I know that we're still strangers and you're taking a giant risk bringing me to your family, but I swear that I will repay you someday for you generosity."

"Edward, I only seek to do the right thing," he smiled at me. "I couldn't possibly live with myself knowing that you were out there living on your own with no support, no one to be there for you while you go through these major changes."

"Thank you again Carlisle. I'm so grateful that you saved me."

I heard the door to the hotel suite open.

"That must be Esme," Carlisle said. "Just hold on a moment." He left the room.

I thought about what had happened. I feel like I should be freaking out more, but my mind hasn't been able to process everything and I don't know what that means. I've only been awake for a few hours; I just haven't had the time to mourn my old life. At least that's what I wanted to believe. It's just all happened so fast, I'm sure sometime soon I'm going to have a break down and want to reconsider that jumping off a bridge idea.

If somebody had told me a week ago that werewolves and vampires existed, I would have told them to stop living in their fantasy world. But after everything that I have learned and seen with my own eyes, it's hard to not believe Carlisle. I want to believe him, because if I don't then I might really lose my mind and no one would be able to help me.

Carlisle popped his head back in the room and asked, "Are you up for more introductions or do you want to rest?"

"No, I'm fine."

He opened the door wider to reveal a woman not much older than him with the same honey eyes.

"Hello Edward, I'm Esme. It is so nice to meet you."

She held her hands together awkwardly like she was itching to come over to greet me better but wasn't sure if that was the best thing to do.

I was rested enough now that I could stand up from the bed and walk over to her. I picked up her hand in mine and gave it a light shake. I was slightly startled at how cold her skin was, but tried not to let it show. "You too, Esme. I should thank you also for allowing me into your lives. I don't know what I would have done."

She looked at me with sad eyes, "I only wish there was more that we could do."

I was really trying to understand the amount of kindness these people had, and why they were like that. They seemed to truly know the kind of trauma I've been through. Their stories must be far worst than my own.

After that we all talked some more. I learned that they had many residences around the world but had been living in Washington in a small town called Forks for a few years now. They told me about they're "children." There were five of them that all looked young enough to pass for high school students, which is why they posed as Carlisle and Esme's adopted children. They explained that the younger the others started out as in a town, the longer they could live there without the threat of humans finding out what they really were.

I knew why they chose not to hunt humans, and I tried to understand why they wanted to live like them, so I asked if there were many vampires that lived the way they do. Carlisle told me that there weren't. In fact there was only one other "family" like theirs that they considered cousins and visited from time to time. He said that most vampires lived a nomadic lifestyle and rarely traveled with others, and if they did they traveled with their mates.

They also explained to me that many of the myths surrounding vampires were false, such as what happens to them in sunlight. They didn't say exactly what happened, but that they don't burn to ashes. This was the reason that they chose the cloudiest places to live and visit.

I didn't ask if they knew anything about my newfound existence. I don't think I was ready to really soak in any information about the kind of monster I would become. The more I learned about the Cullens and how they lived, the further I was able to push my burning questions back in my mind. Thankfully, Carlisle didn't offer me any information. I think he knew that I wasn't quite ready for it yet.

Our conversation lasted well into the night and when I was beginning to yawn Carlisle told me to get some rest and that the next day we would go to the hotel that Jacob and I had been staying at to gather my belongings.

As he was closing the door to my room I realized that I must have been sleeping in their room. I asked Carlisle if he was sure that he didn't want his bed back, saying that I wouldn't mind sleeping on the sofa.

"That's very kind of you to be concerned Edward, but Esme and I don't sleep. We can't." He smiled and softly closed the door.

* * *

><p>I was dressed in some of Carlisle's clothes, which were a little snug. We had arrived at the hotel room that Jacob and I shared. Carlisle and Esme stayed in the hotel lobby while I went to gather my things.<p>

I stood in front of the door looking at the "Please Do Not Disturb" sign that still hung on the doorknob. Luckily I hadn't lost my wallet with the hotel room key in it so I didn't have to go through the awkwardness of having to explain to the hotel staff where I had been for the past four days or how I had lost my room key.

Once inside I looked around at everything that was exactly the same as Jacob and I had left it that night. My shoes and socks were still lying next to the door; Jacob's duffel bag was still half open on his bed. I couldn't linger for very long so I grabbed all of our things and went back to the lobby to check out.

On the way back to Carlisle and Esme's hotel I realized that Jacob's father had to be told what had happened to his son. Carlisle strongly advised against calling Jacob's father. He said that he was sure that the authorities would notify him of his son's death, and that it was better if he thought that I was dead also. As much as I wanted to argue with him, I knew he made sense. There would only be questions that I couldn't give the answers to if I contacted Jake's dad.

Carlisle asked me about my belongings back in Chicago. I told him that everything was already all in boxes ready to go to Dartmouth. He said that he would make arrangements to have all of my things shipped to their house. I thanked him and didn't think anything more of it. I couldn't really care.

I could feel myself falling into a depression. The shock was slowly wearing off. If I didn't stop thinking about the life I had to leave behind I didn't know how I was going to be able to live with myself, let alone seven vampires that shouldn't even exist.

My mood hadn't improved any two days later when I boarded a plane back to the US with Carlisle and Esme.

I was starting to feel like I'd never be myself again, which I guess was truer than I wanted to believe.


	5. Chapter 5

I didn't say a word to anybody for the whole trip.

I didn't want to think about anything at all.

My stupor was broken when I realized that we had touched down. We had to land in Seattle first and then make the almost four hour drive to Forks.

I stared out the window the entire time and hardly noticed at all.

The entire state whizzed by in a blur of green.

Carlisle spoke to me for the first time since leaving Paris when the car finally came to a stop.

I blinked and noticed that he had pulled over on the road right before a hidden drive way between the trees.

"This is it, Edward. Our home is right up this drive way. I just wanted to make sure…everyone already knows that you're coming. And they know what happened, so you won't have to explain anything you don't want to." He sighed before he continued. "I know that meeting more than a few vampires for the first time can be very daunting, but I promise that everyone will be on they're best behavior." He gave me an encouraging smile before turning back around and driving trough the trees.

It was still another ten minutes before I saw the large white house emerge through the trees. It really was a beautiful house and had I been here under different circumstances, I might have been able to appreciate its beauty more.

The car pulled to a stop and Carlisle and Esme got out of the car. I silently said one last goodbye to my former life and opened the door to my new one.

I took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air and followed them up the front porch steps.

Carlisle opened the door and walked inside followed by Esme.

I hesitated a moment before slowly stepping over the threshold.

"This is home," Carlisle said gesturing around the wide-open space.

There were almost no walls and everything was so bright with the back of the house being completely made of glass.

I didn't even hear any footsteps before a big burly guy was suddenly standing directly in front of me.

"Hey man! How ya doin? Welcome to the family!" He held his frying pan-sized hand out for me to shake.

To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. Not only did he appear out of thin air and scare the crap out of me, but he was also almost twice as big as I was.

"Emmett! What is wrong with you? Are you trying to give the boy a heart attack?" At a normal speed, a gorgeous blonde stepped into view and easily pushed the giant further away from me, giving me room to breathe.

She turned to me and smiled brightly, "I'm sorry about that. I'm Rosalie, and this big oaf is Emmett."

"Hi, I'm Edward," I looked back at him and he waved happily.

Esme spoke up looking to Rosalie, "where is every one else?"

"Here we are," possibly one of the smallest girls I'd ever seen walked in holding on to the hand of a blonde guy that looked like he could be around my age. But I had already learned that looks could be deceiving with vampires.

Carlisle introduced them, "this is Alice and Jasper."

"Pleasure to meet you," Jasper said with a southern twang.

The tiny girl, Alice, gave me a sort of peculiar look. Like she was trying to read my mind or something.

"Strange," she said, "I can't see him at all. Like everything is fuzzy around him. I don't like it."

"Don't pay attention to Alice, she's a little strange her self," Emmett laughed breaking the tension between Alice and I.

"Alright," Carlisle looked around, "there's one more missing. Where's Bella?"

"She's coming down right now," Alice said.

I looked up to the stairs on the left and saw the most stunning creature I'd ever seen walking down. Her dark mahogany hair was a striking contrast to her snow-white skin. I had trouble believing that I could've ever witnessed such beauty. And when she looked up and directly at me, I knew I could die a happy man right there with the image of her golden-honey colored eyes forever staring at me.

If I only knew how close to death I actually was.

Everything happened so fast that I could hardly keep up. One second the beauty named Bella was walking down the staircase, the next I was being pushed back by Carlisle and Jasper was restraining Bella with all his strength.

Only she wasn't the same girl she had been a split second ago. She was snarling and kicking, trying to get out of Jasper's grasp. And she was staring directly at me. Like she wanted to rip me apart with her bare hands.

At that moment I was more afraid of her than I could ever be of twice-my-size Emmett.

"Jasper, Alice, take her outside away from the house!" Carlisle commanded.

Jasper picked up Bella and Alice opened the back door for them. She was gone just as quickly as she had come down the stairs and tried to kill me.

I didn't realize how hard I had been breathing until Carlisle turned around and asked me if I was ok.

My mind was still playing catch up and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.

"Uh…yea, I'm fine. No blood, no foul right?"

Carlisle sighed and said, "I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over her. I've never seen her like that before. I have to go find out what happened to her. Esme please show Edward the rest of the house and his room. I'll be back soon."

Emmett spoke up after a few awkward moments of silence, "Well that was interesting."

"I hope she's ok," Rosalie said. "Bella's never been that aggressive. There has to be some reason why she did that."

I didn't know what to think. I knew that I was walking in to a house full of vampires, but for some reason the thought that I might actually be attacked by one of them had never crossed my mind. Carlisle had been so sure that nothing like that would ever happen, and because he saved my life I was so willing to believe in him.

I knew that I should have run away right then, get as far away from these new monsters as quickly as I could, but something kept me there. I don't know if it was curiosity to see what would happen next, or if I really was just that stupid. The last time I didn't follow my gut instinct landed me in this position, after all.

"Come Edward, let's show you around," Esme said making my decision concrete.

Esme showed me the rest of the house, which was a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. When she showed me the kitchen she mentioned that it wasn't stocked because obviously none of them ate food, but that she would make sure she bought everything that I would need. I thanked her again for her generosity.

She pointed out all the bedrooms and who they belonged to as we went up the floors. I noticed that she failed to mention which of the rooms was Bella's. When we reached the end of the hall on the third floor she stopped and gestured to the closed door in front of us. "And this is your room. Carlisle made sure that the furniture and beddings were ready before we got here. If you need anything else don't hesitate to ask, please."

She gave me a soft smile and walked away leaving me there in front of the unknown.

I took the knob and slowly opened the door. The first thing I saw was the amazing view of the forest landscape. I walked up to the window-wall and looked out over the trees. There was a small river running through the trees right behind the house.

As I was admiring the view, I noticed something moving very fast between the trees, coming straight at the house. Before I could blink Jasper, Alice and Bella were standing at the back of the house. A second later Carlisle and Esme were outside with them.

I watched as Bella walked up to Carlisle and hugged him. She looked as though she wanted to cry, but there were no tears shed. He patted her back and said something to her as she backed away, nodding her head. They all walked back inside the house after that, and a less than a second later there was a soft knock on my door.

I turned and walked towards the door and opened it. Bella stood in front of me with her hair all wind-blown and her eyes cast down focusing intently on the carpet. She was beautiful. But she didn't look at me as she spoke; she looked like she was extremely ashamed of her self.

"I'm sorry, what?" I realized that she had been talking to me while I was ogling her and I hadn't paid attention.

She finally looked up, her eyes widening a little as she looked into mine. She blinked and had to look away again for some reason.

"I said that I'm so sorry for how I acted. I don't know what came over me, but I promise nothing like that will ever happen again."

"Um, it's ok, but thank you for apologizing. This is all so new to me, and yea what happened freaked me out a little, but I'm starting to get used to being attacked."

I could see a small smile playing on Bella's face and I smiled in return.

"And, I guess we haven't officially met yet. I'm Edward."

Bella looked up at me then, not shying away and gave me a true smile. She held out her hand, which I took gently and shook.

"Bella. It's so nice to meet you Edward."


End file.
